LIVINGSTON — At a meeting on Thursday, the Livingston Parish Council is expected to discuss a federal lawsuit filed against the parish by a contractor who claimed the parish skirted zoning regulations to unfairly target the development of a Denham Springs subdivision. 

The proposed 2,000-acre Deer Run development along 4-H Road has faced many roadblocks since developer Ascension Properties sought approval for the subdivision in early 2022.

Deer Run was originally planned to host 400 apartments, but Ascension agreed to build just 155 owned condos after another federal lawsuit. The development density was also reduced from 689 lots — each measuring 50 feet — down to a total of eight one-acre lots and 119 two-acre lots, WBRZ reported in 2023.

The suit, filed in February, lists the parish, as well as council members Erin Sandefur, Gerald McMorris, Shane Mack and John Wascom, as defendants. Livingston Parish President Randy Delatte is also listed as a defendant. 

"He's not going to have any input on that at the moment," a spokesperson for Delatte said when asked about the meeting.

The council added the executive session discussing the lawsuit to its agenda on Monday. The council's discussion of the suit comes about a month before the case is set for trial in federal court on July 29.